1. Field of the Invention
Equipment for use in lifting and relocating very heavy metal parts often make use of extremely strong electrical magnets. These types of booms are usually operated by extensive cranes and other similar devices. Such equipment is particularly applicable to use in handling of automobiles, cargo, acrap, or any other structures which are encased in or consist of heavy metal structures.
To achieve the strong magnetic forces required in such equipment an extremely large electromagnetic device must be utilized. Hence, an electrical coil must be used which is capable of carrying large amount of current. Coils used for these purposes often are formed from metallic strip material as large as 4 to 6 inches in width with a coil diameter of 3 to 7 feet. Aluminum has proven to be the best metal for use in such coils when all factors of cost and usage are considered. The insulation between windings of the aluminum strip material has been provided by various insulating compositions which are affixed to the surfaces of the aluminum strip material during the assembly of the coil.
During operation of the electromagnetic coil, a variety of forces or contaminants cause shorts through the coil such that after a certain period of usage, the coil will be shorted to the point that it is no longer usable. Such shorts can be created by a breakdown in the composition insulating material between the coil layers or by deforming of the coil itself during the extremely heavy damaging uses to which the electromagnetic lifting device is exposed. Therefore, at some point the coil no longer becomes usable due to electrical shorts therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The recent great increases in the prices of raw materials such as aluminum, copper, and the like has necessitated the development of systems for salvaging materials from discarded devices. In particular, the aluminum or copper of the completely shorted electromagnetic coils is valuable and a process for recycling this aluminum into new electromagnetic coil devices is desirable.
One of the great problems of forming new coils from the aluminum strip material of shorted coils is the difficulty in the removal of the various contaminants which adhere to the surfaces of the aluminum. In particular, one of the most difficult problems is the removal of the composition insulating material which becomes very strongly secured to the aluminum surfaces during the periods of extreme heat which are generated within the aluminum during very heavy lifting operations. As more electromagnet force is required to lift heavy devices, the heat generated within the coil is increased and the composition material is essentially burned onto the surfaces of the aluminum strip material. It is often exactly this heating operation which results in the shorting of the coil itself. A great deal of money and energy could be saved if a system were developed which could simply and efficiently take the metallic strip coil material from a shorted coil and process the strip material to the point that it can be rewound in a form to be usable in an electromagnetic coil as utilized originally.
Much work has been done in the field of processing strip material such as United States Pat. No. 3,084,425 to Erskine, U.S. Pat. No. 2,907,151 issued to Peterson, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,397,029 issued to McLaughlin et al. These patents all involve processes and apparatus for working and cleaning strip material but none of these patents disclose a process which cleans, scrapes, and straightens and rewinds metallic strip material into reusable coil form as shown in the present invention.